The Angle
by Tiramisue
Summary: Sequel to The Line. With the resurrection of Aeris and the healing of Cloud, Melody is torn between using her powers for good or evil. Then there is that whole Turks and Mists of Gaia thing...
1. Acceptance and Assurance

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, just the people, places and things I made up, not to mention the plot. 

A/N: Well, I'm typing this up the day after I finished The Line. Because I don't know whom it'll star yet, I'm just writing sort of an introductory chapter about the whole Aeris thing.

The Angle

Chapter One: Acceptance and Assurance

Maverick looked up as the door to the elevator opened. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he saw Melody walk into the room with Aeris.

"Yo, Mav, I don't think Tifa will like you gawking at Aeris like that," Melody said with a smile. This snapped him out of his daze of unbelief.

"You didn't!" Maverick exclaimed. "Valeria's gonna be pissed off at me."

"Yes I did. Don't worry about Valeria. She doesn't exactly know all about my new powers cause she'sa full-blood Cetra, so she could be tricked."

"What do you mean?" Maverick raised an eyebrow.

"Unfortunately, with me being inexperienced and all, I could only teleport or transport one thing at a time. If I teleported down there and went up the elevator with her, you probably would have fainted by now. If I went down there like I did, but teleported us both out of there, you would have been suspicious, not to mention I would have had to teleport Aeris first and I don't want her being all lost and stuff and wander."

"So you're gonna pretend what?"

"We're gonna pretend that I teleported myself in, elevator out so you could be the first I see with a reaction." She turned towards Aeris. "So, do you wanna see Tifa and Yuffie first, or Cloud?"

"I'll see the girls first," Aeris said with a smile. Melody led her about halfway to their room when Valeria and Adrienne intercepted them.

"Oh, Aeris, this is my big sis Valeria and my sister's boss and friend, Adrienne. This is Aeris." Valeria looked at Melody suspiciously.

"Nice to meet you two," Aeris said with a smile.

"Did you...?" Valeria asked hesitantly.

"Think of her as a solidified spirit," Melody said with a grin.

"And I assume Cloud was your doing too, right?"

"Maybe..." Melody grinned childishly.

"How did I know this was going to happen?" Adrienne asked. "I told you I should stay until later!"

"You would have let her go near him anyway, so it wouldn't have made any difference!" Valeria shot back, smiling playfully. Her smile faded as she turned back to Aeris. "Oh, don't get us wrong, Aeris, it's not that you're unwanted. It's that lately with all this unbelievably strong magic, it's not hard for Melody to burn out."

"Especially with the magic she used with you, Miss Solidified Spirit," Adrienne added. "Anyway, we should get back to Cloud. You never know what will happen in one's sleep."

"Don't worry, he'll be here for awhile." Melody flashed the two doctors a smile as she led Aeris to the room. She knocked, which was open by a laughing Tifa. Melody tried hard not to laugh as she saw Tifa's face change from a joyful face to a surprised face.

"What happened, Tifa?" Yuffie asked. She walked up to the door and opened it wider. "Oh my gawd! Aeris!"

"Now, now, girlies, let us in!" Melody said with a smile.

Tifa's eyes welled up with tears as she gave Aeris a long hug. Yuffie's eyes were suspiciously shiny as she watched the scene in front of her.

"Awww..." Melody commented. Tifa broke the hug and looked at Melody.

"Valeria and Adrienne just came in saying that Cloud woke up." Tifa paused. "Was it because of you, Melody?"

"Maybe..." Melody said with the facial expression that she was thinking whether or not she remembered healing Cloud. "Oh yeah...I remember!"

"Listen, Melody," Yuffie said hesitantly. The way she said it, Tifa knew she was gonna say something about going to Junon. "We need to go to Junon, so..."

"Ooh! I wanna go too!" Melody exclaimed, her eyes getting big.

Tifa laughed and exclaimed comically, "Oh no! She's in toddler mode!"

"Oh no! What will Tifa mommy do?" Melody asked comically.

"Hmm, what should I do?" Tifa put on a comical face of deep thought. Then her face brightened. "I know! I'm gonna spoil Melody-child and take her! Auntie Aeris and Auntie Yuffie are gonna go too!"

"YAY! Thank you, Tifa mommy!" Melody gave Tifa a side hug. "Wow, Tifa mommy, you're really short..."

"Oh my gawd..." Yuffie choked out, suffocating from laughter. Aeris was smiling at the duo's display of mommy-child.

"How often do you two play Mommy-Child?" Aeris asked.

"Every time Melody's eyes get all huge like that," Tifa replied.

"Trust me, it's easier to sneak out of here than you think. I don't know if Valeria will let me leave," Melody stated.

"But, let's wait to leave until Cloud gets better," Yuffie said.

"Oh, he probably is already. I could feel him getting much better."

"What do you mean?" Aeris asked Melody curiously.

"Well, ya see, every time a Lemii heals someone, they become mentally connected or something like that. He's my first charge, and a fast healing one at that."

"Oh, so you're gonna take care of him when he's sick?" Yuffie asked. All three girls looked at her. "I don't mean like marry him or anything like that, I mean kinda protect him and...you know what I mean!" Melody giggled.

"Well, after we check him out we could go see Trontus. He was, like, my best pal in school. We grew up together."

"Melody, would you consider yourself a tomboy?" Yuffie asked suddenly. "It seems like you're closer to mostly guys, ya know?"

"I was one, but obviously I became more feminine as the years passed by. You're right, though, most of my friends, especially the closer ones, are guys."

Melody led them through the halls and to the clinic. "Hey sis, hey Adrienne."

"Melody, just out of curiosity, are you up to something?" Valeria asked.

"Uh..." Melody put her finger to her chin for awhile and then looked at her sister. "Not at the current moment. If you ask me in about three hours, I'll probably have something. Why?"

"Because, you're always up to something. I should have known before the Cloud thing."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, he just needs a few more hours and he'll be all new."

"It's one of those new powers, right?"

"Exactly." At that moment, Melody felt something furry touch her leg and the short-haired mass of fur purred. "Olive!" She bent and picked up the cat.

"She would be mine, Princess," a voice said. Andain was standing in the doorway.

"Don't call me that!" Melody snapped. She continued sweetly. "No offense."

"None taken."

"You know, I never understood the whole 'Princess' thing," Adrienne said.

"I was the only girl in a group of five. What do you expect?" Melody asked.

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense," Valeria replied, Adrienne nodding in agreement.

"Remember that time we forced her to wear a skirt?" Adrienne asked, seemingly about to laugh.

"Oh yeah!" Valeria recalled before laughing.

"Oh no!" Melody exclaimed at the same time with a grimace.

"What happened?" Tifa asked.

"Well, we basically tricked her into agreeing to wear this mini skirt. To this day she still hates dresses," Adrienne said almost sadly.

"Dresses are evil!" Melody retorted. "Especially skirts!"

"I personally think it's funny that she hates skirts, but she doesn't seem to mind short shorts," Andain put in. Valeria laughed.

"You know, Melody, shorts could be worse," Adrienne started.

"How?" Melody asked.

"Well, there're those, what do they call them Valeria?"

"I believe they're called 'cootchie-cutters,'" Valeria supplied. Melody, Tifa, and Yuffie burst out laughing. Even Aeris had to smile.

"Such foul language!" Andain comically exclaimed, with a smile on his face.

"Seriously, aren't those worse?" Adrienne asked.

"Well, they certainly are nasty," Valeria replied.

"And then there are those that show half of the girl's butt cheeks..."

"Disgusting."

"Oh yeah, those are nasty," Melody commented. "That's why I never wear them. But if you could just get the right angle with mini skirts..."

"Or actually, in our case, wrong angle..."

"But if you need to seduce, then clothes like that work," Tifa put in.

"True. That's half of the human's work world: sexy women. You show a voluptuous woman in, say, a restaurant window and that place becomes filled with men," Melody replied. "I think there's a whole chain of restaurants like that."

"Melody, you of all females should know that all men are perverts. Even the ones that don't show it have something that would seriously make their day," Andain put in. Melody laughed.

"You know, you're right." Melody walked over to Andain and tweaked his nose playfully. "That's exactly why you noticed that I even wear short shorts, right?"

"Ooh, Andain looks," Valeria said teasingly. Before Andain could answer, Leon walked in behind him.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Oh, we're just making fun of the male race, that's all," Valeria answered as if it were something she did on a regular basis.

"Now you listen, all you girls against one guy is too much. He'll never win, and we all know that." The girls burst out laughing. "I'm serious. Especially if Valeria and Melody are involved."

"Fine! Andain, I need to talk to you alone real quick," Melody grabbed his wrist as she walked by.

"Ooh, Melody aggressive," came Adrienne's teasing voice behind her. Melody turned her head around and winked. She released his wrist and turned towards him in the empty hallway.

"Listen, Andain, I need to ask you a huge favor," Melody started.

"Anything for the Princess," he replied.

"I know that this isn't the right place for me, at least not right now."

"So you're going to run away again?"

"Actually, being in the Council and all, I wanted to know if you could pull a couple of strings to get me to go without having to sneak me out like you did the last time."

"I might...if I went with you. The reason I say this is because Maximus trusts me...a lot, more than some of the other Council members, in fact." Andain's voice dropped down to a low whisper as he leaned towards Melody. "Orion and Uma are getting a little shady. He doesn't trust them to go anywhere, but he doesn't trust them to protect this place either. Lena may not seem like it sometimes, but she is very devoted to us here. Don't let her attitude get to your head. She lost everything, EVERYTHING, in the war. She's simply extremely depressed, and frustrated, and angry, and she doesn't know how to let the tension go even after all these years. The reason she's one of Uma's closest friends is because she senses something ill about her. It's all just an act."

"Oh my god...are you serious?" Melody asked in a low voice.

"Serious as a heart attack." Andain straightened. "I'll go ask, and I'll get back to you, Princess." Andain started to walk away.

"I said not to call me that!" Andain lifted his index finger, and Melody knew he was smirking.

"Anyway!" Melody exclaimed as she entered the lab. "Let's go see Cloud. He's feeling much better."

"Just because we know you could sense his force doesn't mean that it doesn't creep us out," Valeria said. Melody grinned at her as she walked into the room he was held in.

"How ya doing, buddy?" she asked brightly.

"Much better, thank you," he replied. He sat up effortlessly.

"Wait until you try to walk. You'll get tired easily." Melody gently pushed him down to a lying down position. "But as far as your injuries go, they're almost healed. You just need to work out to get back to your previous condition, but don't just jump to fights."

Cloud smiled wryly. "You're a lot like Tifa."

"A lot of people think we're twins or sisters or something like that. Why do you say that though?"

"Because, she always worried about me and getting into fights too."

"Yeah, she's a good friend like that. Listen, pal, we're going to Junon, so you won't be seeing us in a few weeks, alright?"

"Okay...Aeris!" Cloud was looking at the door.

"Oh...did I forget to mention that I resurrected her?" Melody said offhandedly.

"Hello, Cloud. How are you doing?"

"I had a bad fall, but I don't remember anything after that except..."

"Except what?" Melody asked.

"I thought I saw my dad, but it must have been the delirium since I saw my mother and my would have been older sister."

"Would have been?" Tifa asked.

"She died a few months before I was born."

"How sad..." Yuffie said, shaking her head.

"Hmm...it sounds like a strange bout of delirium you had. But don't worry, Valeria and Adrienne are good. They're the best of the best."

* * *

Melody heard a beeping noise from her communiqué. She was relaxing in her room (specifically her bath) after talking to the girls and seeing Cloud. She opened the communiqué and smirked when she saw who it was.

"You have priceless timing, White Knight," Melody used her old nickname for him.

"Are you in the bath?" Andain asked hesitantly.

"Don't worry, I won't accidentally let you see my breasts or anything like that. So what's up?"

"Maximus agreed, but it's going to kind of be like a doctor's 'on call' thing. When he calls me on my communiqué, I need to be ready to teleport back here."

"Awesome. The human world is actually pretty fun."

"I heard it was worldly."

"Yeah, but it's still fun. You know that whole seven deadly sin thing? I've probably done all of them except for gluttony. I don't indulge in foodstuff."

"Oh lord, if it got the Princess, it'll get her White Knight."

"The White Knight is stronger, we all know that."

"No, the Princess is stronger."

"Knight."

"Princess."

"Knight."

"Princess, and that's final!"

Melody giggled. "Fine, White Knight. I'm stronger, at least mentally. You're physically stronger though."

"Yeah, so?"

"So we cut it in half! Get packed, and I wanna fly there."

"Doesn't Yuffie get motion sickness?"

"You're right... I could give her a simple downer potion. I'll make it after I get out of this relaxing bath."

"Sounds nice. I don't do baths."

"You should try it. It's so relaxing."

"I am going to get ready for our trip tomorrow, so call me in the morning."

"Alright. Good night."

"Sweet dreams." Melody closed her communiqué slowly. Was she doing the right thing?

A/N: AAHH! This took way longer than I wanted it to! If you're a first time reader, you should read the predecessor, The Line, first. Otherwise you'll get confused with all the original characters of mine. Should this story star the Turks more, or this group of girls and one guy? Please answer in your review, otherwise I'll get writer's block and not put in another chapter until December and none of us want that...


	2. Roasted Turkey

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that isn't mine. If I owned Final Fantasy, I would be a very happy person.

A/N: Ahh! It's been forever since I wrote. I decided to start again after 10 months. I read my first story again and good God it was riddled with errors. They were usually small but things that I notice when I read other people's fanfiction. I'm going to do that soon because it needs it. Oh yeah, I decided to change up a name. I was wondering how I came up with it in the first place... the White Knight's name is now Warren.

Chapter Two: Roasted Turkey

Yuffie looked at the Eagle Air in front of her. The eagle shape of the airplane did nothing to help calm her fears of flying.

"We're flying there?" she asked. Melody grinned widely at her.

"Yep." The grin faded. "I have some medicine for you to take." Melody held out a vial of a watery blood red liquid.

"What is this?" Yuffie took the vial but looked at it with dread.

"A downer potion," Melody replied casually.

"Don't worry, it always works," Warren added in. He paused. "Although its taste is a little unpleasant…"

Yuffie was about to drink the liquid before he said it. The harsh smell of the potion wafted in her nose and she coughed, nearly spilling it. Warren and Melody snickered. "It's not funny…huh?" Yuffie's voice sounded stuffy. "What is this stuff?" Warren and Melody couldn't contain their laughter anymore. They laughed out loud.

Melody stopped laughing and looked at Yuffie seriously. "It's a downer potion. It prevents any sickness from befalling the person. Unfortunately, if you are exposed to it without ingesting it, it creates sickness."

"Like it is now," Warren stated.

Yuffie looked at the potion again. This time she sneezed and a lot of snot came out of her nose. "GAWD how nasty!"

"Just drink the damn thing and get it over with!" Melody suggested with a lot of gusto. Yuffie shrugged and tossed the potion back.

"Gawd! This stuff tastes nasty!" She looked around for something to put in her mouth. "Hey my voice is back to normal!" She did a victory dance.

"I think it would be best for all of us if you wipe your face first," Jess mumbled. Tifa laughed.

"Yuffie, hang on a sec." Yuffie stopped her dancing. Tifa wiped Yuffie's face with a tissue.

"Eww…" Kreutz said with disgust.

'Guys, stop," Tifa scolded.

They boarded the ship and Maverick strapped himself into the pilot's seat. Tifa sat next to him in the copilot's seat. Melody looked around before leaving. Warren followed her. Aeris caught the hint and left as well. Yuffie noticed that she was left with Tifa and Maverick. She could already feel the atmosphere in the room so she left, mumbling something about being outside in case she does gets sick.

'Ooh la la," Kreutz said as he realized the atmosphere of the room as well. 'I think we should leave them alone now.' Tifa felt Kreutz leave. He turned to Jess. 'We could talk about that while they talk about their 'relationship." Jess left as well.

"The Invisible Ship is the best as far as quality goes, but I like the Eagle Air the best," Marc said, catching Tifa's attention. She looked at Marc, who was pushing buttons. After a few buttons were pushed, the Eagle Air roared to life and it took off. "One of its best features is auto-pilot mode." Marc grinned. Tifa grinned back. She looked behind her.

"Everyone's gone…" she observed.

"They wanted to give us room to talk," Marc replied casually.

"Talk…?" Tifa caught the hint. "You mean talk about 'us'?"

"Exactly." Marc turned the revolving chair to face her. Tifa did the same and they were so close that their faces weren't that far from each other. Tifa felt a strange magnetism to Marc and their faces inched towards each other…

A strange beeping sound came from the panels next to them and instantly the magnetism was broken. Maverick turned and pushed some buttons.

"Aw hell," he muttered.

"What?"

"Someone's attacking us," Maverick replied through gritted teeth. He pushed some buttons and he took a hold of the wheel. He turned it to the left and Tifa saw two rockets shoot past where they were moments ago. Tifa looked at a monitor to her right. Two red circles were coming towards the blue square in the middle in both directions.

"Watch out!" Tifa yelled. He jerked the wheel to the right as a reflex and the two circles, two missiles, collided slightly above and to the left of them.

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Aeris was sitting on the edge of the lower part of the ship. The air felt wonderful. The ship was cruising at a nice speed over the snowy plains and the crisp air was wonderful. She turned when she heard the door open behind her. She looked back to see Yuffie exit the ship.

"Hello Yuffie."

"Hi Aeris. It's been a long time."

"Yes it has."

Yuffie stood next to Aeris. "Um, Aeris, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, anything."

"What was it like... you know... to be, um..."

"Dead?" Aeris prompted.

"Yeah, dead."

"Well, it wasn't anything special. The sword created a clean cut through my stomach and I felt my life draining. To me, it felt like going to sleep after being really tired. When I woke up, I was in a large green room. After I walked a little, I found a fountain that a kind old man called the Wellspring. It was from the Wellspring that I was able to talk to Maverick. It was like travelling in a large green expanse of nothingness."

"Wow…" Yuffie breathed. Suddenly the ship was jerked sharply to the right. Yuffie screamed as she flipped over the bar protecting the two. She was barely hanging onto the slippery bar.

"Hang on Yuffie!" Aeris cried. Aeris looked around frantically and found a rope. She took the rope and gave an end to Yuffie. Weak from being in the lifestream for three years, she knew she wouldn't be able to pull Yuffie. She secured the rope onto the bar. "I'm going to get help!"

"Hurry!" Aeris ran into the ship.

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Warren spotted Melody staring outside a window.

"Something on your mind, Princess?" Warren asked. Melody looked at him. She hadn't even heard him come in.

"Actually, yes." Melody looked into his comforting green eyes. Warren was always there for her. "Do you believe in fate?"

Warren paused. "Fate? Of course. As a matter of fact, I curse fate quite often."

Melody tilted her head to the right. A year and a half really couldn't change her best friend, could it? "What do you mean?"

"I wonder about you and me sometimes... actually, a lot." Melody was silent, urging him to continue. "I wonder if I said some things if we would be different. If I said those, would you still have fallen in love with Jimmy? Would you still have left after he died?"

"What do you mean?" Melody asked.

"For instance, when you were unconscious seven years ago, I used to stay by your side for most of the day. Everyday, an old woman walked into the room to sit by the other patient in the room, her husband. On the fifth day, she gave me a rose, saying that it was sweet that I was so devoted to you. She brought a bouquet of roses that day and gave me one, saying I should give it to you when you wake up. The next day when you woke up, I got cold feet. Jimmy laughed and took the rose from me and told you he got it for you. That was really the turning point of your relationship, that red rose. If I gave it to you, would you have disappeared?"

"Warren..." Melody started.

"Melody," he replied. She always heard him call her princess. When he called her Melody, it sounded… sensual.

Melody looked up at her friend, a new feeling enveloping her. He was always there for her, her shoulder to cry on, to laugh with, he was her pillar. She wondered if this was fate...

The ship rocked violently to the right and Melody fell against Warren. She looked up at him, their faces closer than they've ever been. Melody closed her eyes and she felt Warren move closer to her.

"Melody! Warren!" a frantic voice called. Melody's eyes snapped open and Warren stood up, helping Melody regain her footing. Aeris then ran to them, out of breath. "Yuffie almost fell off the ship. You have to help her!"

They followed Aeris outside and they saw Yuffie holding onto a rope.

"Hang on Yuffie!" Melody called. Warren took a hold of the rope and started to pull Yuffie up.

"She's like dead weight," he mumbled. When she was close enough to the bar, she grabbed it and flipped over it again.

"Gawd, I was so scared," Yuffie said. The ship lurched to its left and they saw something hit the ground. Water sprayed on them.

"Wowza! That's cold!" Melody exclaimed. They went into the ship and eventually made their way to the bridge.

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Tifa heard the door open and she glanced at them. Aeris, Yuffie, and Melody strapped themselves into the extra seats and Warren made his way to Tifa and Maverick.

"Mind explaining what the hell is going on?" he asked calmly.

"We're in the middle of a dogfight," Maverick replied, just as calmly.

"One from the left!" Tifa called. Maverick turned the wheel to the left and they saw the missile shoot past them to their right.

Warren sauntered to a seat far to the right and he sat down. He buckled his seatbelt and began pushing buttons.

"Access granted. User: Helix. EA Weapon systems: online," an electronic voice said. He pressed a few more buttons. "EA Cannon: charging."

"How did you do that?" Maverick asked.

"I designed the Eagle Air and the Invisible Ship with Leon, remember? I have access to certain parts of the ship's systems that others don't have."

"You're in weapons research?" Melody asked, surprised.

"Yes." Warren pushed a few buttons.

"EA Cannon fully charged. Fuel usage: 0.0854 percent. Fuel left after use: approximately 95 percent."

"We're ready to rock n roll!" Warren took a hold of the controls by him. "Sorry, Mav, but I'm gonna have to take over."

"Go right ahead."

"I hope everyone is buckled because things are gonna get crazy." Right after Warren finished this statement, they flipped upside down and they were right behind two jets. Warren sped up and was in between the two planes. "Say cheese!" There was a sound and he slowed down so he was back behind the planes and he pushed a large red button. A ball of fire slammed into one of the planes and the explosion ripped into the other plane.

"Woah," Maverick said in awe.

"The magic of Eagle Air Cannon..." Warren said wistfully.

"You designed it, right?" Yuffie asked. "That was awesome."

"Yes it was."

"Photograph analyzed," the computer chimed. Warren pushed some buttons and stood up; the plane was in autopilot again. He walked in between Tifa and Maverick and leaned over and pushed a few buttons. A picture popped up like a hologram and zoomed into a symbol on the side.

"Mists of Gaia," Warren and Maverick said at the same time.

"I'm going to report to Maximus and remember, it could be worse," Warren said, walking to the doorway.

"How so?" Melody asked.

"Instead of being Eagle Air, we could be Roasted Turkey," Warren added before leaving. The group in the bridge was silent, then burst into laughter.

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Please review. I really want to finish what I started. I originally planned to have Yuffie kidnapped but this story has taken a different direction...


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